Monday, June 1st, 2009
The July 2009 quarterly update of the edit module for clinical diagnostic laboratory services will include several changes in laboratory national coverage determination (NCD) code lists, according to a transmittal the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued May 15. Read more »
Monday, June 1st, 2009
A provision in the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) of 2008 will soon change the policy of who is considered a critical access hospital (CAH) outpatient when outpatient clinical diagnostic laboratory services are provided.
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
It seems the new date of service (DOS) for the technical component (TC) of pathology, mandated by the 2007 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule and implemented May 23, 2008, has caused some confusion. Does the DOS requirement apply to pathology tests when the TC and professional component (PC) are performed by the same lab and billed globally? Enquiring minds want to know!
To clarify, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently updated Pub. 100-04, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, chapters 1 and 16.
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008
New CPT® codes that go into effect Jan. 1, 2009 will allow your lab to code more accurately for advancing diagnostic tests, according to the Coding Institute’s Pathology/Lab Coding Alert (Vol. 9, No. 11).
Let’s say, for example, that a patient presents with chest pain but shows a normal EKG and tropinin-negative test results. The physician orders serum myloperoxidase (MPO). You would have to settle for a generic code, such as 83516 Immunoassay for analyte other than infectious agent antibody or infectious agent antogen, qualitative or semiquantitative; multiple step method to describe the test. In 2009, however, you’ll code this sort of test with total clarity using CPT® code 83876 Myeloperoxidase [MPO]. Read more »
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